'Not just a sports bar'

Wings Etc., a new restaurant and bar, will open in Shelby Tuesday afternoon. The restaurant offers 18 different wing sauces, appetizers, entrees, desserts and sports on 24 flat screen televisions placed throughout the venue.

Special to The Star

By Alicia Banks

Published: Monday, November 12, 2012 at 03:21 PM.

SHELBY — A restaurant for sports fanatics and families found a home in Shelby this week.

Wings Etc., a sports bar and pub, opens to the public Tuesday. The franchise, based in Indiana, centers its niche on wings, offering 18 signature sauces for the menu item.

Clay Arey, a Shelby native, and his fiancé, Brittany Herier, own the restaurant. They recently backpacked and traveled throughout Asia.

“While over there, we missed American food and sports to watch. We felt there wasn’t a place to do this in Shelby,” Herier said.

Any and all sports can be viewed at Wings, from football and baseball to basketball and soccer. Televisions are mounted throughout Wings.

SHELBY — A restaurant for sports fanatics and families found a home in Shelby this week.

Wings Etc., a sports bar and pub, opens to the public Tuesday. The franchise, based in Indiana, centers its niche on wings, offering 18 signature sauces for the menu item.

Clay Arey, a Shelby native, and his fiancé, Brittany Herier, own the restaurant. They recently backpacked and traveled throughout Asia.

“While over there, we missed American food and sports to watch. We felt there wasn’t a place to do this in Shelby,” Herier said.

Any and all sports can be viewed at Wings, from football and baseball to basketball and soccer. Televisions are mounted throughout Wings.

Comical chicken-themed commercials air inside the restaurant.

Bucket lanterns dangle over booth tables.

The aroma of fresh wood circled throughout the restaurant as cooks and waitresses recently wrapped up a week of training.

And the restaurant offers more than just sporting events galore. Patrons can test their eating skills at the “Wall of Flame,” a challenge to eat 16 habanero-flavored wings without anything to drink or additional food.

“You’ll get a T-shirt, a picture made and bragging rights,” Herier said with a laugh.

Wings plans to offer cornhole tournaments and "college night" in the future.

The restaurant is in the former Ham’s Restaurant that closed about two years ago.

Herier said she’s excited about Wings opening. The restaurant can seat about 176 people at tables and a centrally located bar.

“The atmosphere is different. It’s not just a sports bar,” Arey said. It’s a family restaurant.”